The 2021 Giro d'Italia is the 104th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro began in Turin with an individual time trial on 8 May, and Stage 11 occurred on 19 May with a stage to Montalcino. The race finished in Milan on 30 May.
Classification standings Legend Denotes the leader of the general classification Denotes the leader of the mountains classification Denotes the leader of the points classification Denotes the leader of the young rider classification
Stage 1 8 May 2021 — Turin to Turin, (ITT)
For the fourth year in succession, the Giro started with a short individual time trial. This year, the Giro started with an test against the clock in Turin. The course was flat all the way through, which meant that the power riders were widely considered as the favourites for the stage victory.
The early benchmark time was set by 's David Dekker, the second rider to start, who completed the course in a time of 9' 19". His time would be beaten by the next rider, Victor Campenaerts of , who took the lead by a few hundredths of a second. Shortly thereafter, Jonathan Castroviejo () beat his time by 5 seconds to move into the hot seat, until Matthias Brändle () set a time of 9' 10". Later in the day, Dekker's teammate, Tobias Foss, set the new standard with a time of 9' 00", becoming the first rider to average more than . However, his teammate Edoardo Affini broke the 9-minute barrier and blitzed the course in a time of 8' 57". He stayed at the hot seat for a long time before the time trial world champion, Filippo Ganna, rode the course as one of the last riders to go down the start ramp. He dominated the course, averaging more than and finishing in 8' 47", 10 seconds quicker than Affini. It was enough to get him the stage victory and the first maglia rosa for the second year in succession; in doing so, Ganna would also be the first leader of the points and young rider classifications.
In terms of the GC, last year's revelation, João Almeida (), was the best of the favorites, finishing 4th with a time of 9' 04". His teammate, Remco Evenepoel, who was riding his first race since his crash at last year's Il Lombardia, finished 7th with a time of 9' 06". Another GC contender who set a fast time was Aleksandr Vlasov (), who finished 11th with a time of 9' 11", while many of the other main GC contenders were clustered around 35 to 40 seconds back of Ganna.
After Krists Neilands () completed his time trial, he crashed while riding back to the team hotel and fractured his collarbone. As a result, the Latvian was forced to withdraw from the race, being the first rider to do so.
Stage 2 9 May 2021 — Stupinigi (Nichelino) to Novara,
The first road stage of the Giro featured a flat stage from Stupinigi to Novara.
This stage was also notable for being held on the 10th anniversary of the death of Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt, who died following a crash on Stage 3 of the 2011 edition. A moment of silence was held in Weylandt's memory prior to the start of the day's race.
A three-man breakaway broke clear as soon as the flag dropped. The break, composed of Vincenzo Albanese (), Umberto Marengo (), and Filippo Tagliani () were allowed to build up a gap of 4' 20" before the peloton began to bring them back. On the only categorized climb of the day up to Montechiaro d'Asti, it was Albanese who took the points to become the first wearer of the blue mountains jersey before his time on the front ended due to a mechanical. With to go, Tagliani and Marengo dueled for the first intermediate sprint in Tricerro, which the former won to take maximum points, before Fernando Gaviria took third a few minutes later from the peloton. The remaining duo out front was swept up by the peloton before the second intermediate sprint in Vercelli with to go, which featured bonus seconds for the general classification. Race leader Filippo Ganna took the maximum of three bonus seconds to extend his lead, while Remco Evenepoel took two bonus seconds to move ahead of his teammate João Almeida into 4th place in GC.
In the final kilometers, the sprinters and their respective lead-out trains crowded the front of the peloton in preparation for the sprint while the GC teams fought for position at the front to keep their leaders safe. In the final kilometer, there was no clear lead-out train and it was Tim Merlier of Giro debutant team who started his sprint with 200 meters to go. He would not be overtaken as he took the stage and the points jersey in the process. Giacomo Nizzolo finished second with Elia Viviani taking third. Dylan Groenewegen, who was riding his first race following a nine-month suspension, finished fourth. Ganna finished safely in the peloton to keep the maglia rosa.
Stage 3 10 May 2021 — Biella to Canale,
The third stage featured a hilly course from Biella to Canale. While the first were mostly flat, the final part of the stage featured one third-category climb and two fourth-category climbs. In addition, there was an uncategorized steep climb up to Guarene, which topped with left and offered bonus seconds instead of mountains classification points, before a mostly flat run-in to the finish.
The stage began with heavy rain, which gradually let up by the midpoint of the stage. Initially, a seven-man group, including mountains classification leader Vincenzo Albanese () and frequent breakaway participant Simon Pellaud (), went off the front before Pellaud's 18-year-old teammate Andrii Ponomar joined the break following a 10-kilometer chase. The breakaway was allowed a gap of around six minutes before began to close the gap for their sprinter, Peter Sagan. At the first intermediate sprint in Canelli, won by Pellaud, before the day's climbs, the gap was reduced to under four minutes. On the first and second climbs, Vincenzo Albanese took first place to extend his lead in the mountains competition, while also managing to snap a single point by placing third on the third climb. Back in the peloton, continued their fast pace and began to shed most of the sprinters on the second climb in an attempt to eliminate Sagan's rivals for stage victory. The pace of the peloton meant that the breakaway's lead was reduced to just a minute and a half following the last categorized climb.
As the break took on the final uncategorized climb, Pellaud attacked his breakaway companions, with only Taco van der Hoorn () and Samuele Zoccarato () able to follow his acceleration. Near the top, Zoccarato was dropped as the duo's lead hovered around 30 seconds. From behind, Giulio Ciccone () and Tony Gallopin () attacked in an attempt to bridge up to the break, but they were unable to close the gap before being reined back in. With to go and the lead hovering around 40 seconds, van der Hoorn dropped Pellaud. He was able to quickly extend his lead to a minute, prompting and to contribute to the chase for their respective sprinters. Heading into the final kilometer, van der Hoorn still had a lead of fifteen seconds, which would prove to be enough for him to take the stage victory, which was both his first in a Grand Tour and the first for , making their Giro debut. Davide Cimolai () led the peloton home four seconds later just ahead of Sagan in third, while race leader Filippo Ganna finished with the peloton to hold on to the maglia rosa.
Stage 4 11 May 2021 — Piacenza to Sestola,
The fourth stage took on a hilly route from Piacenza to Sestola. The first were mostly flat, followed by a series of hills, before the peloton began to tackle to first of the day's climbs, a third-category hill up to Castello di Carpineti. After that climb, riders descended into the valley before tackling the second third-category climb to Montemolino and then another uncategorized climb. The finale featured an intermediate sprint for bonus seconds in Fanano at the foot of the second-category climb of Colle Passerino, which averaged almost 10 percent across and included pitches of up to 16 percent. The climb topped with to go before a flat run-in to the line.
Much like the previous day, the peloton encountered heavy rain which persisted for much of the day. The first attacks were made by the Belgian duo of Quinten Hermans () and Victor Campenaerts (). Several riders continued to attack from the peloton until 25 riders comprised the day's breakaway. The peloton immediately let the break increase their advantage to around 5 minutes before race leader Filippo Ganna took to the front of the peloton. As the break neared the top of the first third-category climb at Castello di Carpineti, Francesco Gavazzi () attacked, taking the maximum points to defend teammate Vincenzo Albanese's lead in the mountains classification, while a Christopher Juul-Jensen () and the duo of Hermans and Rein Taaramäe pressed on after the climb in pursuit of the stage win. The trio extended their lead to almost two minutes over the rest of the break, putting Taaramäe in a position to possibly take the maglia rosa at the end of the day. Taaramäe attacked near the top of the second climb, with Juul-Jensen following his move. The duo stayed away for much of the day until Alessandro De Marchi () and Joe Dombrowski () caught up to and passed them on the final climb. Dombrowski launched his move with to go, eventually soloing across the line. De Marchi crossed the line 13 seconds down but finished fast enough to take over the maglia rosa and the race lead.
From behind, the peloton containing the GC contenders remained calm, with Ganna setting the tempo until he was dropped on the second climb. On the final climb of Colle Passerino, 's co-leader João Almeida was dropped; he eventually lost more than four minutes to the other contenders. Near the top, Mikel Landa () and Giulio Ciccone () attacked before being followed by Egan Bernal (), Aleksandr Vlasov (), and Hugh Carthy () shortly thereafter. The quintet eventually stayed away to finish 11 seconds ahead a seven-man chase group which included Remco Evenepoel (), Simon Yates (), Romain Bardet () and Dan Martin (). Meanwhile, a group containing last year's runner up, Jai Hindley (), Vincenzo Nibali (), and Emanuel Buchmann () lost 34 seconds while George Bennett () lost almost a minute and a half.
Stage 5 12 May 2021 — Modena to Cattolica,
The fifth stage featured a pan-flat route from Modena to Cattolica. There were two intermediate sprints after in Imola and after in Savignano sul Rubicone. After rain persisted for much of the previous two days, sunny skies greeted the riders for the day.
After the flag dropped, Filippo Tagliani () and Umberto Marengo () attacked out of the peloton. The duo was allowed a lead of five minutes before the peloton began to chase. At the first intermediate sprint, Tagliani and Marengo took maximum points but they were reeled in with to go. The peloton remained calm for the next before Simon Pellaud () and Davide Gabburo () attacked with to go. The duo was allowed to build a gap of almost a minute and a half before the peloton began to close them down. With to go, Alexis Gougeard () attacked from the peloton and eventually bridged across to the lead duo, but the peloton was already closing in on the break. The trio would eventually be caught with around to go. led the peloton into the final kilometre. Stage 2 winner and points classification leader Tim Merlier () tried to sprint but he dropped his chain, dropping him out of contention for the win. European and Italian road champion Giacomo Nizzolo () started his sprint first but Caleb Ewan () came from behind to outsprint Nizzolo for the win. With the second place, Nizzolo accrued enough points to gain the lead in the points classification and take the maglia ciclamino.